Week 6 and the launch has stuttered a little…
This Service is Delayed…
Today was supposed to be the day that I revealed my business to the world. Unfortunately, there will be no such unveiling as there is still work to do on the site. We are trying to do something pretty nifty to do with responsiveness of the site to mobile devices etc and it is proving a little troublesome, however, it will not defeat my super-clever developer and all will be well! I expect that I will be able to fully launch at some point this week, if not early next.
It Has to be Perfect
The thought of ‘going live’ without the site being absolutely spot-on makes me throw up a little in my mouth. There is nothing worse than a false start, especially with such important ‘shop fronts’ as websites. Perfection can be a dangerous beast, as when do we know if it has actually been reached? When I searched Google for ‘the strive for perfection’, it returned an article with this quote from Sir Henry Royce:
“Strive for perfection in everything you do.
Take the best that exists and make it better.
When it does not exist. Design it.”
Sounds easy, right?
Working While Launching
Launching a business brings with it many challenges and needless to say, a few issues. One of the biggest challenges I have come up against so far is being able to balance carrying out the actual service of the business while at the same time creating a brand and a proposition etc etc. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of requests for meetings and proposals (thanks all!) while setting up, and it is impossible to turn those down. Why? Firstly, you need to have business to have a business, and secondly, I love what I do and the buzz of meeting people and uncovering what I can do for them. Having these meetings and writing proposals has allowed me to stay sharp as I get on with the creation of my business. It is a real juggling act, however a necessary one and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Right, I must be off. Have a great week.
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Great post Mike! I completely get the desire to reach perfection, but remember to keep your striving in perspective. I look forward to the launch!
Thanks Sally! Like the perspective point!
I’ve been following the process for weeks now, so I was really excited to find out more about your new venture. Good luck and hopefully everything will be as close to perfection as it can possibly be in the following days!
Thanks Rodrigo, appreciate the support!
Mike there are those who warn against striving for perfection… but there again I also respect the advice of my mentor for the marketing module in my MBA studies. He would sternly repeat, ” if you cannot do it well now, then don’t do it now”. You’re travelling the right road the right way, so you will get there in due course.
Hi Edward, I guess it can be a dangerous thing. I don’t agree with doing something badly just for the sake of doing it.
Release early, release often.
Striving for perfection before launch is folly as whilst you’re waiting for perfect you’re not generating revenue and you’re not learning through an iterative process of build > measure > learn. You can release and always iterate, nothing is set in stone.
In my book done is better than perfect.
Hi Michael, problem is you often see too many releases that are so bad, causing an awful first impression and massively reducing the potential user base.
But that’s a good thing. You learn instantly why it’s bad, otherwise you can only assume you’re correct when striving for perfection and in doing so bake in an awful first impression.
Of course you need to change in line with feedback, but going out with something port is just a bad idea.
“If you are not ashamed of your product when you launch it, you launched too late.” – Reid Hofman
Why you would ever willingly do anything you are ‘ashamed’ of I’ll never know.
I agree with Michael’s comments. I think if you strive for perfection before launching, you will be waiting a long time. That’s not a reflection on you, just human nature in general. I was exactly the same when I started out five years ago and in hindsight it was the wrong thing to do.
Of course you should still make sure it’s as good as you can make it, but remember your customers won’t be expecting perfection.
In my view there’s no such thing as the perfect business or perfect website, the successful ones evolve over time.
Thanks Jamie. Totally agree, release often and early isn’t an excuse for releasing rubbish but waiting can be so detrimental.
And Mike, as Jamie says not a reflection you. I believe it’s different strokes for different folks and ultimately you should know your business better than anyone.
I also think the early release approach is more suited to products and online services, different approach makes more sense for a business like mine.
Hi Jamie, I think it is hard to not want perfection, however I agree that if you get bogged down in it, you’ll never actually get anywhere!
I think this is a better quote:
“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.”
― Salvador Dalí
Like that!
Like that one.
Hi Mike,
I feel you’re pain as in a similar position.
Our website is our business also, so it is difficult to release something you think can be better. But as Jamie says there needs to be some evolution.
One of the exciting things we hold onto is that even before launch (currently in final beta) we are constantly coming up with new ideas to implement once we have had success with ‘version 1’.
It may sound a little cheesy, but the way we look at it is that we will grow and evolve with our users.
Cheers
Andy